To rise again at a decent hour by Joshua Ferris, has won the 2014 International Dylan Thomas Prize worth £30,000. His novel was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize this year.

The International Dylan Thomas Prize was created to honour the work of Welsh poet and playwright Dylan Thomas. It is open to any writer of novels, poetry and drama aged 39 – the age Thomas was when he died – and under. The judging panel for this year’s prize was chaired by Hay Festival founder Peter Florence, and included singer Cerys Matthews.

Synopsis – Paul O’Rourke, 40-year-old slightly curmudgeonly dentist, runs a thriving practice in New York. Yet he is discovering he needs more in his life than a steady income and the perfect mochaccino. But what?

As Paul tries to work out the meaning of life, a Facebook page and Twitter account appear in his name. What’s at first an outrageous violation of privacy soon becomes something more frightening: the possibility that the online ‘Paul’ might be a better version of the man in the flesh. Who is doing this and will it cost Paul his sanity?